Bird exports must be stopped and investigated

Reports of more rare and endangered birds being exported to Germany and into the hands of a convicted criminal must be investigated urgently, the Greens say.

“The Federal Government should never have given permits to allow the trade of rare and endangered birds with a person convicted of fraud and kidnapping. It must be investigated and exports of rare and endangered birds must halt,” Greens environment and trade spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“The Environment Department has some serious questions to answer. The fact that this export permit has not been cancelled since this trade was exposed is an appalling oversight of the Department. I will be using estimates hearings in two weeks to probe how on earth this happened and what the Department and the Minister are going to do to fix it.

“The Morrison Government cannot be trusted with the preservation or restoration of our environment. Our beautiful, rare, endangered wildlife should not be traded for profit, they must be protected here in Australia where they belong.

“We need an urgent independent inquiry into how these rare and endangered birds have ended up in the hands of a convicted criminal in Germany.”